Charles Priore asked:




Sitting on the sofa with my dad at 9 years old and listening to Ernie Harwell’s excitement when Rocky Colavito came to bat. Cash and Kaline surrounded the rocket launching Colavito who promptly launched a bullet line drive that smashed into the seats near the foul line. my dad got up and gave a resounding “DON’T KNOCK THE ROCK” as Ernie Harwell did the same on the Detroit Tigers radio network.

In those days it was “The Rock” and Minnie Minoso, Larry Doby — Kaline, Cash and Colavito. the rock that was built for baseball and home runs. his fielding was beyond belief for a taller, strong player and he had a legendary cannon for an arm. I can hear Harwell casually exclaiming “DON’T KNOCK THE ROCK” after Rocky gunned down another runner. Rembering the Rock with the Indians when he hit his fourth consecutive home run in four consecutive at bats in Baltimore. The defensive minded orioles with the long fences refused to walk him but the Rock persisted.

Remember the “big trade” that sent Colavito from the Indians to the tigers ( Indian fans fumed). Then the rock went back to Cleveland for more good years and then off to other destinations including Kansas City where he did very well. the cannon-armed home run hitter In one of his final stops The Rock winds up pitching a little (and very well) for the New York Yankees, a team Colavito idolized as he was born in the Bronx, New York City. You can look at Hall of Famer records and and the Rock is comparable or better than some. It was his charisma and ability that made him so popular in Cleveland and made fans shout “DON’T KNOCK THE ROCK”

The Rock

Colavito was not fleet of foot. He reportedly had “flat feet” but he got along well for a larger player. His instincts were honed and his arm was like a laser, most fun was watching him throw out guys at the plate or pass a relay with a literal missile with laser guidance. He was totally error-less in one season. His assists and walks at the plate made him a very dangerous weapon. And what a hitter!

Colavito fans of all ethnicities were most impressed with him at the plate. in 1961, the tiger outfielder hit 45 rockets with 140 rbis and a .402 on base percentage. Teams didn’t want to pitch to colavito. he was a team player all the way as evidenced by his friendships and track record as a great role model for kids, fans, and American-Italians.

Baseball-reference.com is great Rocky site. If you are a Colavito fan, join the Yahoo! Rocky Colavito newsgroup. They run a very nice and down home discussion about the rock. The rock glows in this group as a very personable, proud, and although not perfect, a real role-model for American-Italians and his fans of all time. at 6′3″ and 190 lbs. Colavito played from 55′-68′.

Colavito and why he’s not in the Hall of Fame

Colavito in Cooperstown? if you thought you were going to read something deep here that is not the case. There is no reason why the rock is not in the mighty hall. The rock is more than stats. He was an American icon. wikepedia.com says “the curse of rocky colavito is a phenomenon that supposedly prevents the Cleveland Indians baseball team from winning, be it the world series, the American league pennant, reaching post season play, or even getting into a pennant race. its origin is traced back to the unpopular trade of right fielder Rocky Colavito for Harvey Kuenn in 1960. it is a classic example of an urban legend or a scapegoat for the Indians’ past failures.”

Did I hear “urban legend”? Colavito then returned to the Indians in his tenth season, after a one year stop in Kansas City where he ripped 34 missiles with 102 rbis. He leads a semi-private life in rural Pennslyvania. He and his family are doing great. The Hall of Fame has to hear that somewhere out there. to me it’s an outrage and a slap in the face. Every time the Indians have a reunion with the Rock, there is a large group who follows the whereabouts of the American-Italian urban legend

- Rocco Dominico Colavito. Now explain why the Hall of Fame members snub him. Have theories? born august 10th 1933, the rock is still the rock in 2008. You can make excuses but “DON’T KNOCK THE ROCK!

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Coaches that use knockout drill during their training sessions run a great risk of destroying the confidence of the weaker players on their team, and creating disharmony within the team. Knockout drills are drills where players get progressively eliminated until you are left with a winner. Your winner will most likely be the best player on your team. My experience with coaching children is that the great majority of coaches already know who the best player on the team is. So my question is do you want to find out what you already know, or do you want to improve the ability of the players in your team? If your answer is the latter, then you have no reason to use knockout drills.

My aim with any practice is to maximise the number of touches on the soccer players that all players achieve. All soccer drills should be engineered so as to achieve this goal. Without argument, there are many valuable skills that a player must learn which do not involve touching the ball, however of the major skills (trapping, passing and tackling) all require the player to be able to control the ball in an effective manner. So for this reason, I have always tried to create sessions which get players touching the ball more. If you have a weaker player on your team and you want them to improve, get them kicking the ball more. Encouraging them to kick a ball outside of practice sessions will also speed their improvement.

Another effective way to achieve the goal of increasing touches on the ball for all players is to divide your team into small groups at practice. This may mean that you have to enlist the aid of your team manager or parents to help with supervision. Having players stand in line to wait for their turn to kick the ball is not an effective means of practice. Yet it is one seen on many training paddocks. It is definitely more challenging to supervise a number of small groups, particularly if you do not have any help, but a coach can rotate amongst the groups to aid supervision. Dividing your team into groups of 3 or 4 players, rather than 1 group of 12 to 14 players will potentially increase the number of ball touches for each players by at least three times. How much more quickly will your players improve by this method?

If you want to introduce an element of competition into your practices and you have been using knockout drills for a long time this may be a little difficult to come to terms with. All players respond better to competition (except the ones on the sideline!!). Another means of getting around this problem is to use a rotation of players. Maybe you have three team of four playing four vs. four. If you want an extra element of competition have one team sit out, replacing the team that does not win, and so on. Or if you have three teams of four set up two fields and rotate the teams around the fields.

So for those coaches that have been using knockout drills in their practice I hope you have been very successful with these. I would also hope that you may experiment with using some of these techniques, and that you continue to see improvement in your players. For new coaches I would strongly encourage you not to use knockout drills, but rather to use small groups, soccer drills that maximise the number of ball touches for all children (not just the stronger ones), and rotation of small teams. Good luck with your coaching.

The final qualification matches were played on Tuesday and Wednesday and it is now known which 16 teams would be playing in the next stage of Champions League.

In Group A Liverpool, Marseilles and Porto had the chance to progress through to the next stage. Porto defeated Beskitas by 2 goals to 0 while in the other game of the group; Liverpool defeated Marseilles in Marseilles by an emphatic 4-0 scoreline.

Steve Gerrard opened the scoring on 4 minutes with a penalty while Fernando scored a superb second to put the Reds 2 goals up in the 1st 11 minutes of play. Dirk Kuyt. Early in the 2nd half and Ryan Babel in the dying minutes completed the rout.

Porto finished as group winners with Liverpool following them through as runners up. Marseilles’ consolation is to feature in the UEFA cup for coming 3rd.

In Group B Chelsea had already qualified as winners and the only issue was which team would follow then as runners up.

All the remaining teams had a chance of qualification with Schalke defeating Rosenborg 3-1 with Kevin Kuranyi amongst the goals in a straight shootout to see which of the teams would qualify while Valencia could only draw at Chelsea.

This meant that Schalke qualified as runner up and Rosenborg qualified for UEFA cup with Valencia going out altogether after a bitterly disappointing campaign.

In Group C all 4 teams could still qualify and they all had something to play for. Real Madrid defeated lazio by 3 goals to 1 with Raul increasing his goal scoring lead at the top by scoring the 2nd goal with a header as they totally outclassed their Italian opponents.

Julio Baptista and Robinho scoring either side of Raul and Darko Pandev scoring Lazio’s consolation goal.

In the other game Olympiakos defeated Werder Bremen by 3 goals to 0 with Ieroklis Stoltidis scoring a brace and Darko Kovacevic scoring the other.

This meant that Real topped the group, Olympiakos came second and Werder Bremen having the consolation of UEFA cup.

In Group D Milan had already qualified and they wanted to top the group while Celtic, Shakhtar Donesk and Benfica all had something to play for as Celtic could still qualify as wiiners or runner up and Shakhtar could still qualify as runner up while Benfica had the chance to play in UEFA.

Milan defeated Celtic by a Filipo Inzaghi goal and they were anxious as to what was going on in the Shakhtar but they needn’t had worried as Benfica won in Moscow by 2 goals to 1 with Oscar Cardozo grabbing a brace and Cristiano Lucarelli scoring a penalty for the host but it was not enough.

Milan qualified as winners with Celtic joining them in the next stage and Benfica grabbing the UEFA spot.

In group E, Barcelona had already qualified as winners and they routinely defeated Stuttgart 3-1 with the returning Samuel Etoo and Ronaldinho amongst the goals.

Lyon and Rangers knew that the winner of this their game would qualify or in the event of a draw, Ranger would go through but Lyon defeated Ranger by 3 goals to win reversing the scoreline of their first meeting in Lyon when Ranger surprisingly won 3-0.

It may have been different if Jean-Claude Darchville did not miss a complete sitter that would have made it 1-1 with 9 minutes to go but they fell down to 2 goals from Karim Benzema and another from Sidney Gogou.

Rangers at least have the consolation of UEFA football in the New Year.

In group F all the qualifiers had been known with Manchester United topping group and Roma coming second. They played out a 1-1 draw with both sides fielding weakened teams understandably.

Sporting defeated the hapless Dinamo Kiev, 3-0, who went the whole campaign losing every game.

In Group G Inter Milan that had already won the group defeated 10-man PSV Eindhoven by a Julio Cruz goal to nil in Eindhoven.

In the other game Fenerbache defeated CSKA Moscow by 3 goals to 1 with Alex scoring 1 of the best goals of the competition so far.

Fenerbache qualified alongside Inter with PSV Eindhoven in the UEFA cup.

In Group H, the only issue was which side Arsenal or Sevilla would top the group and it was Sevilla as they won in Prague by beating Slavia Prague 3-0 with the inform Luis Fabiano opening the scoring and Freddi Kanoute and Daniel Alves completing the scoring.

Arsenal, with goals from Abou Dialby and Nicklas Bendtner defeated Steaua Bucharest 2-1.

Slavia Prague with just 5 points qualified for UEFA by coming 3rd.

No matter how skilled a bowler you are, you’re going to find yourself in a spare situation–and for those of us that are casual bowlers, it happens more often than not.

Picking up a spare can be difficult or easy. It all depends on the location of the remaining pins. Some spares are fairly easy for novice bowlers, such as a single pin standing in the center of the lane. Other situations require more concentration, and a little knowledge of geometry.

Splits–when there is two or more pins standing, with a gap in between–are considered the most difficult to spare, and the larger the gap, the tougher the shot.

Single Pin Spares

Potential spares that do not involve splits, are fairly straight-forward. With single pin spares, a straight aim at the remaining pin is often all it takes. Because even a glancing blow will knock the pin over, there’s a wide target area to aim for.

An exception to this simplicity is a single pin adjacent to the gutter, especially when on the same “hand” as the bowler. For right-handed bowlers, the 10-pin is the culprit, for left-handed bowlers, the 7-pin.

Because of the natural throwing motion, and the narrowed target area, it is easy to end up with a gutter ball when attempting this shot.

One technique is to move to the opposite side of the lane, and throw the ball across the lane, towards the pin.

When the single pin is against the gutter, but opposite the bowler’s hand, the shot is less difficult. If you can hook the ball, do so, as this increases the size of the target area.

Adjacent Pin Spares

When you are left with two adjacent pins, and one is closer t o you than the other, you have a fairly easy spare, as well.

Aiming for the forward pin, on the opposite side of the rearward pin, will usually result in the front pin hitting the back pin, giving you the spare.

While you can also attempt to use the ball to hit both pins, by aiming the ball at the forward pin on the same side as the rearward pin, often this results in the ball ricocheting and bypassing the second pin, and missing the shot.

Making the Split

Splits are considerably more complex shots than other spare situations.

Baby splits, splits with small gaps between pins, are easier, but they still require skill and precision to hit the shot.

To pick up a 3-10 or 2-7 split, the best technique is to hit the leading pin on the side closest to the back pin. This allows the ball to hit both the front and back pins, by taking advantage of any minor ricochet.

With the 4-5 and 5-6 splits, the pins are equidistant from the bowler, and this shot can only be made by sending the ball between both pins, hitting them both at the same time.

Larger splits, like the 7-10 split, require not only skill, but also luck. The only hope of hitting this spare is to hit one pin, and have that pin fly across the lane and knock down the other one.

Basic bowling etiquette

Tenpin bowling is great fun, the best thing is it can be enjoyed by players of all ages and abilities. It is a brilliant way to spend time with your family or friends and have a few laughs together. Like everything else though, there are bowling rules of etiquette to be followed. If you’ve never bowled before and don’t know the basic rules or if you didn’t realize etiquette existed, keep reading. You may be surprised!

Basic bowling rules

1. Players roll a bowling ball usually weighing up to 16lb down a lane made from hard woods and synthetics. The aim of the game is to knock down as many bowling pins as possible.
2. There is a 5m approach which is separated from the lane by a black line, players must not cross this line during the release of the ball or after its delivery.
3. On either side of the lane are “gutters”, in non-league bowling, players have the option of blocking these gutters to ensure the ball doesn’t continually roll down the gutter.
4. You have two attempts to knock down as many pins as you can.
5. If you knock down all bowling pins on the first go, this is called a “strike” and as there are no pins left to knock over, you do not get a second go.
6. If you knock down some of the pins on your first go and knock the rest down with your second go, this is called a “spare”.
7. The maximum score you can get in bowling is 300, you must score a strike every turn to reach this score.

Bowling Zone

1. Always dress appropriately for bowling, especially if you are competing. Casual clothes that are not torn or dirty do not comply with the bowling rules of etiquette. Ladies be sure to wear a skirt long enough to cover your modesty when bowling!
2. Keep your area nice and tidy. It is fine to enjoy some snacks and a drink but don’t leave your rubbish lying around.
3. Do not eat or drink during your run-up, a small drop of liquid or food on a very well polished floor is extremely dangerous. Don’t forget there is also a 16lb bowling ball to consider!
4. It is good bowling etiquette to be ready to take your turn, don’t keep others waiting for you!
5. One of the golden rules is you should never bowl with someone else’s bowling ball. Stick to using the same bowling ball throughout the game. If you change bowling balls put the other one back so someone else can use it.
6. Respect your teammates,the bowling alley, its equipment and the other bowlers.
7. Be sportsmanly!

According to the rules all hunters are to be judged on their jumping form. This means that their jumping style, that is, knees up and rounding, or their bascule, is the number one priority.

Competitors show over a course of minimum of eight fences that simulate jumps found in a field hunt. Jumps such as stone walls, hedges and coops are often used as well as natural colored poles. The horse, however, must be able to knock down the top element of the obstacle.

In addition to their form over fences, hunters are also considered on their manners and way of going during the round.

When showing in the hunter ring you are judged from the moment you enter the ring and the judging stops when you leave the ring.

As a judge critiques your round, they keep score with their own personal series of cryptic symbols to remind them how the horse performed. Each fence is marked with a code to reflect how the horse jumped. The fewer the marks the better the score.

Remember that the Hunter Round starts as soon as you get into the ring and ends when you leave so everything that you do in the ring can and will be judged. So if you go into the ring, and immediately pick up a wrong lead, that will be scored. Likewise, if your horse balks, or resists, at the in-gate that will also be considered as part of your round.

I’ve judged my fair share of hunter rounds. Some were wonderful. Some, well, they need help! If you avoid the following ten things you will most likely be in the ribbons every time.

Poor Form
A horse should jump with its knees up and square, or even. Uneven knees or ‘hanging a leg’ is reason for not pinning in a class. A horse is said to ‘hang’ when the forearm is in a more vertical position (knee pointing toward the ground) as opposed to horizontal position (knee pointing straight ahead) over a fence. This is undesirable as a horse that ‘hangs’ could be dangerous because it may hit the jump with its forearm and cause a terrible accident.

If your horse has good form but has one bad fence where he ‘hangs a leg’, it could knock you out of the ribbons depending on the size of the class and severity of the bad jump.

To improve your horses form over fences you can use gymnastics. This type of training should be under the supervision of your trainer or coach. The type of gymnastic that you use will depend on the jumping form you are trying to treat. Check with your trainer and develop a systematic training program to cultivate your horse’s form.

Refusal and/or Run-out
To be considered for a placing in a hunter class you must complete all the fences. Having a refusal, meaning stopping in front of the fence without jumping it, is a major fault and will be scored as such. A run-out, when a horse goes past the extended horizontal line of the jump is also a major fault. You must approach and jump the fence to complete the course.

A horse must get to each jump and its form over the fence is considered. If it cannot get over the fence then it is a serious fault. A circle at the beginning of a round and a closing circle at the end is permitted however, any other circles will be counted as a refusal. I use the symbol ‘R’ on my judge’s sheet to note a refusal and will not place a horse that has an ‘R’ unless I really have to.

To prevent refusals and run-outs at horse shows, work with your trainer to ensure that you and your horse are ready for competition. Know the requirements of the level you are showing in and practice this height of fence at home. It is also helpful to have similar types of fences to school over when training so your horse is not surprised by flowers, brush or coops when they are at a show.

If there are few participants in a class a refusal or run-out may get a low placing.

Knock Down
A fence is considered to have been knocked down when the pole is no longer resting in the support. A knock down is a major fault and is scored as such. A perfectly good round can be destroyed by an untimely rail. A knockdown is considered a major fault. If I see a ‘K’ on my sheet I will not place this horse unless I have to.

To prevent knock downs while on course prepare your horse for the show season with a systematic training program to develop your riding and your horse. Gymnastics will develop strength and agility and also prepare the rider  for the courses.

Breaking or Trotting
Break into a trot any where on course and your score will go down or you will be placed lower. I write ‘BROKE’ on my sheet to keep track. One horse I judged had a winning round. The rider was enjoying his beautiful canter and he looked up and as he looked up his horse broke into trot for two steps! He lost the class!

Wrong Lead
Having a wrong lead around the ends of the arena can make the horse unbalanced and they often have a bad fence after. Wrong leads will certainly knock you out of the ribbons. I mark “XL” to note horses that have wrong leads.

Also a disunited canter “DIS” or cross canter will also lower your placing.

Adding in or Leaving out Strides
If you have a four stride line and do it in three strides at mach1 with the second fence HUGE, you have an athletic horse and have the great makings for a jumper. You may wan to consider changing disciplines. If you leave out strides I mark it with a “[-]“.

When you add strides, I mark my judge’s sheet with a”[+]” to show that they added.

Missed jump/bad spot.
To be considered for placing, particularly in a large class, a ‘chip’ (a short stubby stride just before the fence) will ruin your chances. Likewise for an overly long or reach on take-off. I use the following symbols for chips “Λ−a”C ” or jumps long “∩a”C.”

Uneven Rhythm
My first reaction to a hunter round should be, “that was a nice even round.” If I’m holding, white knuckled, onto my chair, chances are you are going too fast or steadying in the corners and zooming down the lines towards the jumps.

If you are speeding toward the jumps in a rushing fashion I will mark my page with a “aa” to represent speed.

Bad/poor Mover
This is a difficult one. So, if you’ve got to the jumps, good form, even rhythm, right striding and your correct lead. That is great, however,  if your horse is an average mover up against a pack of superior movers of the same jumping ability, the horse with the correct form and better movement will place higher.
I mark a poor mover with the symbol “↑↓”.

Turnout
The icing on the cake is the turnout. You and your horse should present themselves in a clean professional manner according to the specifications of the class. Braiding is always acceptable and shows off your horse. Tails well prepared and tack shining. A finished picture with hooves oiled is a pleasure to see. If there were ties a tie breaker would be turnout. I simply write ‘lovely turnout’ if I think it would make or break a winning round.

Keeping score in a game of bowling may seem complicated, but it really just comes down to adding up the number of pins each player knocks down. Each frame, a player has two opportunities to knock down ten pins. A game consists of ten frames, and the player with the highest score at the end of the tenth frame, wins.

If you are bowling at an alley without a scoring computer, you’ll probably be given a paper scoresheet. Before you start playing, record each players name in the appropriate area of the scoresheet. The pins that are knocked down on a player’s first attempt are counted and recorded. The mechanical pin setter then removes the standing pins, clears the knocked-down pins, and then returns the remaining pins.

The player then takes their second attempt, and any additional pins that are knocked down are counted and added to the first. The score from both attempts is first added together, and then to any previous scores, to calculate the running score for the frame. Most scoresheets have a small area in each frame to record the number of pins knocked down in each of the first and second attempts. The running total is then written in the larger area of the scoresheet.

For example:

If a player knocks down six pins on their first attempt, and then two pins on their second attempt, then they’ve scored an 8 on the first frame. In the second frame, if that player knocks down seven pins on their first attempt, and one pin on their second attempt, then their total score is now 16.

Players score bonus points when they knock down all ten pins in a frame, by either bowling a strike or a spare. The number of bonus points depends not only on whether a strike or spare was bowled, but also on the player’s performance with the next 1 or 2 balls.

You score a strike when you knock down all ten pins on the first ball of the frame. To record a strike, mark an X for that frame; their score will be the ten pins of the strike plus any pins knocked down on two balls of the next frame. (You delay recording the score for that frame until the next one is completed).

After a strike, the next frame should be scored as usual. If the player bowls a second strike, scoring will need to be delayed until the next frame. The pins knocked down with that ball are added to the 10 from each strike.

A player that knocks down all 10 pins with their second ball is scored as rolling a spare.

To record a spare, mark a/ in that frame. The score for the frame is the 10 pins knocked down plus the number of pins knocked down on the first ball of the following frame. Bowling scores accumulate each frame until 10 frames are completed. If, in the tenth frame, a bowler rolls a strike or a spare, they are allowed bonus balls to determine their score.

Once each player has finished the ten frames, the resulting highest score determines the winner.

What is the best caliber for elk hunting? This is an age old question that has been debated over many years by many hunting experts. When you talk about rifles and calibers it can get downright personal and emotional for some folks. The truth is that you want a caliber that will deliver enough knockdown power and energy to make a clean kill at a reasonable distance.

Shots can range in distance from 20 yards out to 400 yards. A savvy hunter will choose an adequate caliber and practice at all distances. I recommend that you sight your rifle in at 200 yards. Some gun ranges only have a target distance of 100 yards.

In this case, sight your rifle in at 2 inches high at 100 yards. For many calibers, this will just about put you on bull’s eye at 200 yards. It is helpful to shoot from standing and sitting positions with the help of a support and off handed also.

Calibers under 30-06 are on the light side. I will not argue that smaller calibers are not capable of bringing down elk but we are looking for the best, most effective calibers based on past experience.

As far as the best caliber for elk hunting, my favorites would be the 30-06, 7mm and .300 calibers. All of these calibers offer many bullet types and weights to choose from. Be sure to sight in the rifle with the same bullet weight and type that you plan to hunt with.

Changing weight (grain) of your bullet can throw off your shot. Magnums can give even more advantage but can be heavy on recoil which can affect a shooter’s accuracy. The new short magnums seem to be the best of both worlds, shooting distance and knockdown power with less recoil.

As you can see picking the best caliber for elk hunting is not an easy answer but I know if you choose one of the calibers listed above, you will not be sorry or go wrong.

Do do that voodoo that you do so well…

As a beginning bowler, one of the first things you’ll notice is how the experienced players seem to perform a ritual of sorts before they approach the lane to bowl. Bowling alleys are incredibly noisy places, so taking a moment to turn inward and gain your focus will help set you up for higher scores. Whether you wipe down your ball, take a few deep breaths or rub your lucky rabbit’s foot and then spin three times clockwise, a pre-bowling ritual will calm you down, help you focus and give you better control over the ball.

Now that you’re focused…

Once you’re relaxed and centered, you can mentally prepare to bowl. Don’t hit pins by sheer luck. Form a checklist in your mind, considering what you need to accomplish with this throw. A little preparation will get BIG results.

- Is this the first throw this frame or do you need to pick up a spare?

- What’s the best strategy to knock down that combination?

- Where is the best place to stand? Get there.

- Where do you need to aim? Visualize the path the ball must take to knock the pins down.

- Check your stance. Is your lead foot facing straight ahead? Are your shoulders square to the foul line?

- Take a few deep, relaxing breaths and visualize your throw one more time.

- Line up your shot.

- Bowl!

By performing your pre-bowling ritual before each an every throw, you’ll gain technical expertise and hone your technique. Whatever you choose to do as your routine, however many or few items you have on your mental checklist, taking a minute to prepare yourself will help you clear more frames and perform at a higher level. As your pre-bowling ritual becomes a habit, your focus will automatically shift to your game.

Bowling alleys can be busy places, filled with flashing lights, loud music, and even louder people. To get the most out of every shot, you need to find a way to tap into the quiet inside and block all the noise and distraction. Some bowlers accomplish this through deep breathing, while others have a mantra of sorts that they repeat to themselves over and over.

Trial and error will help you find what works best for you. It may feel a little strange at first to go through these steps before bowling every round, but when you get the hang of it, it will all become second nature.

But the kids next to me are so OBNOXIOUS!

Sometimes, a normally loud bowling alley gets downright obnoxious. It’s during these particularly trying days that your ritual will serve you the best. Conquer the mental aspects of your game and the technical aspects will naturally follow. Even when there’s a birthday party of six-year-olds bowling next to you!

Be confident! Realize that occasionally, you’ll have a bad day, and bring yourself back to your routine. Use your ritual to pull your focus back to where it should be and follow your mental checklist…and watch those pins fall!

Baseball may be considered America’s past time, but bowling is just plain fun for everyone. No matter your age, your fitness level or your sports abilities, you can still have a great time bowling. The game itself is challenging and can be a great deal of fun, however the social aspect of bowling is probably its greatest benefit. While some people choose to bowl by themselves for practice, bowling is much more fun with a group of people. It is because of this that bowling leagues are so popular for people of every age. And lets face it, during what other sport can you so easily drink beer?

In case you have never heard of bowling or Ten Pin Bowling as it is sometimes called, there are a few basics that you should know. Bowling is played in a bowling alley with lanes. The lane is approximately 60 feet long and 42 inches wide and has ten pins at the opposite end of the lane. The pins are arranged in an equilateral triangle, the back row has four pins, the next one has three, and the next has two and the last row (front of the lane, also called the head pin) has only one pin aligned at the center. The goal of the game is to knock down as many of these pins as physically possible. You will have two chances during each frame to knock down all the pins, and there are ten frames to a game. If you knock all of the pins down on your first shot, it is considered a strike, if you knock them all down by the second shot, it is considered a spare.

When you bowl, you will use a bowling ball that ranges in weight from six to sixteen pounds, depending on how strong you are. Some people find it easier to bowl with a heavier ball as it goes faster and hits the pins with more force, knocking them down easier. The maximum score you can achieve or the “perfect” game is 300. This occurs when you get a strike in each frame and then two strikes in the last frame.

Luckily, with the improvements in technology, bowling alleys are almost fully automated. The pins are set up automatically by a machine and your score is tracked by the computer. This allows you to focus entirely on the game and having fun with your friends.

Bowling can be such an entertaining sport to watch and participate in. If you have never tried it, now is a great time to gather up some buddies and head down to the bowling alley for a fun filled afternoon!